


Cotton Socks and Clean Floors

by MyBrightEyedBeauty



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Demon AU, Demons, F/F, M/M, Main ship is johndave, Supernatural Elements, Vampire!Dirk, Vampires, Violence, dave comes in in chapter four i hope you guys ar e fuckign happy om fg, i dont know how to tag pls forgive me, john passes out a lot, vampire!Dave
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-21 12:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4829543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyBrightEyedBeauty/pseuds/MyBrightEyedBeauty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Egbert is just a human living in another cookie-cutter neighbourhood. He'd been jumping around states his whole life, he knew how it went. He'd move in, make friends, have to leave said friends after a couple of months, lose contact, repeat.<br/>When his father decided to finally settle down, John thought he could finally ride out the rest of his school days in peace.</p><p>He <em>definitely</em> did not expect <em>this.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Mom LaLonde breaks in, as she does.

==> John: Tell Life Story

You've hopped from state from state since you were seven.

You've long since learned not to get too attached to the people you meet there, or you'll end up blubbering while you say goodbye to the friendly old lady that lives down the street again.

That thought stopped you from making best friends, getting girlfriends, asking for phone numbers. Though you never turned down someone if they asked for your chumhandle or something. You were more than happy to give them it if they were willing to keep in touch, but to this day, you've only managed to keep in touch with one person. Her name is Vriska, and your pretty sure the only reason she keeps talking to you and _insists_ that you talk to her was because at the time you went to the same school as her, no one else could really stand her, and your guessing that's still true because she still wants to keep in touch.

Not that you were complaining.

And now your here; A cookie-cutter neighbourhood, Washington.

Woop-de-fucking-do.

The house you, your dad and your sister, Jane, moved into is actually pretty sweet. Not the best one you've stayed in, but it's up there. It's got that nice new-thing smell around it, but that won't last for a week, the scent of flour and frosting will soon overpower it. You remember pulling faces at the amount of boxes filled with supplies for the kitchen, with Jane rolling her eyes and ruffling your hair every time. You and Jane, being the siblings that you are, practically tripped over each other to claim rooms. It didn't matter, anyway, since all the bedrooms were carbon copies of each other.

You'd wondered if all the people were the same too.

You'd never been so wrong.

You've never been so happy to be wrong.

So here you are now, third day of moving in, sitting on the couch with your family and the family across the street. The LaLonde's, as you've learned, are people with personalities like you've never seen before, and that's saying something, with the amount of people you've encountered.

The one that's your age, Rose, has a sarcastic and witty persona and a lovehate relationship with her mother, both never fail to make you laugh. She's got this prissy, uptight look about her but her speech is just overflowing with snark and it's pretty amazing.

You asked for her chumhandle within the first 10 minutes.

Her older sister's name is Roxy, and she's taken a liking to Jane. And by 'liking' you mean she flirts with her at every opportunity, in front of Dad and Rose's Mom and everything. You can tell that they'll get along like a house on fire if Jane'll stop blushing and pouting whenever Roxy talks to her. You suppose that's kind of Roxy's fault, though.

You got her chumhandle pretty quick too.

Their mom is... an interesting character. You haven't talked to her that much during the visit, but from your father's deep chuckles every once and a while you can tell she's like her daughters. You just really hope she's not flirting with your dad.

You think she likes your family, though. Every once in a while when you glance over in their direction, she's sometimes just watching your interactions with a smile on her face. Sometimes it's amused, but other times it's just...content, like she's never seen her family this happy.

Well you haven't been this happy in a long time.

Your really glad that in all the places you've stayed, your dad chose this one finally settle down in.

For once in your life, being 'The New Kid' for the third time within 9 months doesn't suck so much.

==> John: Scream into your cereal

Doin' it.

Right now, it's been 2 weeks since you've unpacked and met some other neighbours. You're a bit wary of some, especially the ones that live at the edge of the street. The clown-oppressed trio just seem...well...

Rose recommends you steer clear of them, and while you agree with her, there was coldness in her eyes that you didn't understand.

It's 7am, and you are _so_ not ready for this again. Being the new kid is natural to you now, but this time you're not going to be gone again in a couple of months. At least you already have a friend to look forward to, and Rose says that she'll introduce you to some of her friends and acquaintances.

You're still kind of anxious though. Welp, you tried your best, Rose.

You're sure you'll be fine.

What were you supposed to be doing? Oh right, screaming. Yeah you never stopped.

You only come out of your fear-ridden daze when Jane gently pats you on the shoulder and asks if you were ok, as you were staring into your cereal for so long that your glasses slipped off your face and into your breakfast.

What a fun morning.

You slip on your shoes and stumble out the door, with Jane locking it behind you as your Dad left for work a little while ago. And start the trip to school, after Rose and Roxy join you.

Another girl, Jade, you think her name was, also joined you four. You haven't even arrived yet and your already starting to be overwhelmed by these new faces and-or possible friends.

Rose, being the fucking she-devil she is, seems to catch onto your bad mood and only adds to your headache, talking about nothing, but it feels like she's throwing verbal rocks at you. You eventually just give in and listen to whatever she's talking about, and just forget about your headache and concentrate on her words.

By the time her rants seem to die down, you've kind of snapped out of your panic. You give a little smile of thanks to Rose, and she seems to catch on and makes a little satisfied grunt, falling into silence, leaving you to think about the rest of your day again.

That silence lasts less than 6 seconds before you start to talk Jade and Rose's ears off.

===>

You close the door behind you with a huff, leaning against it and watching Jane scuttle to her bedroom with Roxy, chattering like two birds.

Right now it's just past 4 in the afternoon, and you better hurry your ass up, because Jade wants to hang.

You dump your bag by the door and run a hand through your hair. Today was a long day, you have to admit, but you guess you'll have to get used to it. It could have been worse, you suppose. You could have been pushed into lockers and teased by jocks or jostled in hallways. But the other kids didn't seem to care about the New Kid, which you're thankful for. You've had some...bad times making friends before, you've always been an easy target. You've just got a lot of ammunition, but whatever, you don't need to be thinking about that anymore.

You're forcefully pulled out of your mulling when your phone vibrates in your jeans pocket, and, pretending you didn't flinch, you pull it out.

Jade

John!!!!!  
Get your butt over here >:(!  
...  
John you live just across the street from me you shouldn't be taking this long!!  
You butt!!

You huff a laugh, but quicken your pace anyway, because those exclamation marks promise violence.

===>

Rose

Rose  
Roooooose  
ROOOOOOOOOOSE  
Rose please  
Rose we're just about to whip out the SNES and Jade's old copy of Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun

I'm on my way

===>

Roxy

Roxy I can see you from over here  
I beg of you  
Please stop

Wut  
Ahahaha do you not like these sick moves Johnny boy? ;D

Oh my god

Mayb I can give you a private one later ahahaha wonk~ ;)

Roxy please no  
ROXY OH GOD STOP  
MY POOR EYES

Don't pretend ur not enjoying this ;)  
Jooooooohn?  
Aw I broke you :(

===>

Rose

John what are you doing

Huh?  
Oh!  
Ummmm  
Well!  
That's a long story!

Oh trust me John  
I've got time

Ummm  
Ok well!  
There was a bird on the sidewalk, and it looked like it was hurt or something  
So Jade took pity on the poor thing and she said to put it back in it's nest in case it had children or whatever  
So we looked around for a nest and we found one!  
In this tree!  
That I am in!  
And can't get down from!

**. . .**

**. . .**

**. . .**

**. . .**

Do you require assistance?

Yes please

===>

Jade , Jane and 3 others

May I please enquire to where you three are?

Oh!  
Pardon us for taking so long!  
But. . .  
Something came up!  
Something that's APPARENTLY really important and kept us here for an extra 10 minutes!

You guys don't understand!  
The slushie machine's broken!

Yeah!  
And there's NO WAY we are leaving without slushies >:(!

Well damn  
I say the kids have a point ;)  
You three need backup?

You stay right there Roxy!  
No one gets out of Keep-Jake-From-Choosing-Movies duty that easily!

Aw :(

Well!  
You have a name for it and everything!

Dawwwww sorry Jakey bby <3

How long will you three be waiting?  
Hold on, let me rephrase that  
How long will you three be keeping us waiting?

Ehhhh  
Another 10 minutes I think?

Alright  
Get me the grape flavour

Will do!

Strawberry plz ;)

Lime for me, chaps!

Pffft ok :B

==> Time: Skip ahead a few weeks

==> John: Deal with the intruder

Intruder? No, you've been sleeping soundly for hours with not a single peep from the rest of the house, there's no wa-

There's a crash in the living room. With a groan you throw your head forward, aggressively hauling yourself up. And, internally screaming, practically slither down the stairs to deal with the ruffian in your home.

You narrow your eyes at the sight of a dark figure, crouched low at the edge of the coffee table. You're not surprised when you manage to identify said figure. "Ms LaLonde, for the love of all that is holy please get out of my house." You...somehow manage to surprise her, as she just jumped about a foot in the air like she had no idea you were in the same room as her. Which makes no fucking sense because you literally _stomped your ass down the stairs because Rose's mom is in your house at 3am again god dammit._

She looks drunk out of her mind. Her hair and clothes look like she just walked through a tornado, there's dark patches circling her eyes and she's clinging to the top of the couch to keep herself upright. Her eyes are, surprisingly, bright and aware, not glossed over and squinting at you like your not 6 feet away from her.

She's not drunk, so you settle for her being through literal hell.

She lets out a ragged breath, which was supposed to be a laugh you think? And mutters out, "No can do Johnny boy, 'm here to see yo-"

"Dad's not here." You snap out, sounding a little more pissed off than you actually are, but _for fuck sake LaLonde it's 3am and I have school in 3 hours_. The tone you use effectively shuts her up. She opens her mouth and, when nothing comes out, snaps it shut audibly, instead opting to glance this way and that, surveying the room, like she expects your dad to pop out like it's some sort of prank.

You let out another groan and dig the heels of your hands into your closed eyes. "You look like shit, Ms LaLonde, so I suggest you either go home and let me sleep, stay the night here, also letting me sleep, or do whatever you want as long as you _let me go back to bed_."

She's just standing there with this look on her face, and you honesty think you've upset her until she pipes up, voice cracking. "How long has he been..." She trails off, leaving you confused because your dad goes on these business trips all the time and Rose's mom never seems to give a fuck, and also what happened that she needs your Dad so desperately and made her look the way she doe _holy shit she needs medical attention._

"Oh god, are you ok, what happened? Oooooh fuck, why are you so beat up?" You scramble to the kitchen, snapping out of your tired state and yelling questions from across the house. You think you hear a laugh come from the other room but you can't tell with the noise you're making, forcefully opening and slamming cabinet doors in your search until "Holy shit finally." Grabbing the First Aid Kit, you spin with enough force to do a 360° spin on your socks, but you don't, because your too busy lying on the floor where you just fell.

Fucking cotton socks and freshly-cleaned floors.

That 360° spin would have been rad as shit, too.

You stumble blindly back into the living room, like literally blindly, because as much as you appreciate the bright glowing orb in space trying to make your life easier, it's still dark as shit.

And your glasses, which got knocked off when you slipped like an idiot, are still on the floor of the kitchen. Great. Now you're gonna be the one squinting sightlessly instead.

Fuck your life.

She's sitting on the couch now, and her breathing is less conflicted, now that she's took a minute to gather herself. At least you think that's her, and not that harlequin doll. Shit it could be either-or. You're saved from your LaLonde-Identify-Crisis when the lights flicker on suddenly. And now your really glad you stalled or you would have started to patch up a fucking harlequin doll.

"Looks like I'm not the only one beat up now, hm?" You turn vaguely in the direction of the voice and- oh. She slips your glasses on your face, and, now she's no less than 3 feet in front of you, you take this moment to really study her appearance.

There's 3 bruises on her face, each looking like they with grow into an impressive size, and a rather deep cut on her left cheek. Her nose looks broken too, there's blood coming out of there like a fountain. She appears to be leaning on her right foot a lot more than the left, so her left leg has probably been knocked up quite a bit. There's several slashes across her torso, cutting the fabric of her shirt and leaving gashes in the skin of her stomach and hips, 2 or 3 of these look really bad. She's not wearing shoes..? She must've- oh wait nevermind they're there by the door. Hm, polite even when looking like she barely escaped a riot.

You sit her down, unfortunately not without a wince of pain, and begin to clean and disinfect all the cuts among her body. Jesus, this woman is a mess. Rose's Mom has always had these midnight-to-five-in-the-morning escapades to your home ever since she spoke a word to your father. They'd hit it off quite well, and your and Rose's family soon became close. This is the first time she's visited while your dad was absent, and _definitely_ the first time she's shown up looking like _this_.

Your...not completely sure _why_ she visits. It's always been between her and your father. She'll stay a few hours, or sometimes about 20 minutes, then leave. You've never pried, though. Your father gave up hours of his rest to talk to this woman, so you'd figured it must be important, and none of your business.

When she's finally cleaned and patched up the best you can manage, you sit beside her on the couch -not before kicking the stupid harlequin doll out of the way- and a heavy silence falls between the both of you. She's taking these deep breaths, but you know that that's probably because of her broken nose, not because she's trying not to cry or anythi-oh god there's tears swelling in her eyes.

You tsk light-heartedly, "What would Rose and Rox think if they saw you?" Ms LaLonde huffs out a shaky laugh and, head bent, says "Why do you think I'm here and not over there?"

You smile sadly and shake your head, even though you think that Rose's mom needs to go home, or the hospital, since you didn't do the best job treating her wounds, that was more Jane's department. "Was it some drunk?" you say, because she hasn't said anything to answer your rapid questions from the kitchen.

She doesn't answer for a long while, and silence impregnates the air around you again, so when she reaches over and ruffles your hair you pretty much jump off the couch.

"You're a good kid, John, just like your dad." She stands, smoothing out her work clothes. -Work clothes? Jesus, Rose and Roxy must be worried sick if she's been out since she finished work.- and walks over to the front door, slipping on her high-heels (you notice one heel is broken), she looks back to you and, flashing a smile, says "My girls think your pretty great, so do I. You tell your dad I dropped by, and that he should come over as soon as he can, m'kay? Look after yourself, now."

And with that she slips out the door.

You pass out on the couch 30 seconds later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help, how to John Egbert.
> 
> Writing some of these characters is going to suck tbh.
> 
> (edited 28/10/15)


	2. In which Rose sits by the Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look it's demon shit. Too much demon shit? Maybe ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

==> Rose: Tell Life Story

You've known about demons since you were six.

You've been aware of demons since you were abruptly woken one night, when you carefully tiptoed into the kitchen at 4 am. You knew about them since you witnessed an unfamiliar figure converse unhappily with someone at the other side of the room, since you observed said figure leap, claws unsheathed, eyes blazing, hurling themselves at the individual at the opposite wall.

You've known about demons since you watched your father's graphic death.

You also became aware of the fact that your mom packs a deadly punch.

Ever since your mom has never been the same, falling into an alcoholic period that contained a few arguments and more than a few tear-streaked faces before something flipped back on and she decided to be a mother again. But your guardian only saw herself as that, a guardian. She acted like she was only there to protect you, not listen to your story about how this boy pushed you over at recess or hear you out on your woes on your upcoming violin exam. Instead of holding and shooshing you when you claimed that there's a monster in your closet, she sprints out of the room to grab a rifle, blindly shoots at your closet door until she's satisfied whatever was frightening you -real or not- was completely and brutally slaughtered, offers you nothing more than a pat on the head, then leaves for her own rest.

Six-year-old you learned that monsters were more than stories bound down in text or fabrication after that.

Your mother always made sure you and your sister were well educated on the subject, always knew the signs that there was more to certain people who hid behind walls of human clothing and speech, always knew how to avoid being pulled into demon's tricks, each night made sure you two went to bed with a knife on your bedside table. You and Roxy were soon trained in the art of self-defence and demon slaying, and, to be honest, the seriousness of it sucked. You hated always having to be on your toes, to dance around demon classmates even though you knew you would like them if you actually took the time to get to knew them, to wait with baited breath when your mom is off on one of her 'trips' because there is a big possibility she may never come back again.

You wish your family didn't have beef with demons. You want to be a normal family, with a warm mother and stern but gentle father and a sibling to fight with but to love at the same time. But that has never been the LaLonde's.

That's how it's been for years, you became accustomed to it, felt like it's always meant to be this way. When you're on a mission to take out a particularly big board of the things, or if you're stealthily creeping in on a strong target, or when you've just got a weapon in your hands, you don't think you feel more at home anywhere else.

When Roxy drew her gun out on a demon classmate and almost got arrested ( He was tryna' mack on me, mom, what else was I supposed to do?! ) Combined with the hefty amount of local demon families your mom managed to piss off, the three of you all knew it was time to move out of New York and to a new state. So where do you go? To the other side of America. And thus begun the most exhausting and irksome road trip your family has ever experienced. Many tears were shed.

Your family had never been closer when you arrived in Washington state.

And life here was good, you tangoed with your first few demon troublemakers in the streets of Washington, made a couple of friends.

And you met another demon hunter.

You honestly had no idea if your family were the only humans who were aware of demon presence, _you_ weren't even aware until you witnessed an attack first-hand. But then you found someone who carefully avoided the same people as you, who looked at said people in the same cautious light you do. You had found this odd, as this face was generally sociable and a friend-to-all type of person, so you started to get your suspicions. And when she pulled a gun on you, you just _knew_.

Jade and her brother, Jake, tag along on the weekly LaLonde demon hunts.

Together, your two families combat the demons who disrupt the peace of these Washington Suburbs.

And here you are now.

===>

"Did you see the moving vans today?" Jade asks, dumping the last of the bodies onto the pile, ready to be sent back to Derse. She cracks her back with a huff, and dusts off her hands. You nod and hum a yes, rummaging around in your backpack for your lighter, which is filled with a rather absurd mix of lighter fluid, holy water and many other substances that your mother crammed in there. You flick it on and hold it close to the stack of dead and unconscious demons and within minutes the pile is captured in a bright blue blaze. It works, but that doesn't stop you questioning how exactly.

Jade takes a step or two back, wiping her forehead of sweat which has most likely built up there. You gingerly pick your way around the pools of blood, your team's or otherwise, and join her in bandaging up whatever wounds you acquired in this week's hunt. Jade gives you a sidelong glance, sliding her pistols into her holster. In the background you can hear the faint mumblings of the other three of your team, audible now the roar of flames has diminished. You think Jake got a nasty gash down his side, but that was nothing compared to the multiple bullets in the chest the monster received in retaliation. "You worrying?" Jade's voice drags your attention back to the brunette, and you flick your eyes over to her, and offer a little "Hm?"

She rolls her eyes but smiles warmly, "About the newcomers?" Your eyes drop down instantly to your sneakers. Jade squeezes your shoulder gently in understanding. New faces are deep trouble, especially now. These people are known as easy targets, fresh meat, a free meal, basically. You struggle to protect these families, they drag too much attention to themselves, too many demons put hits on them at once. It's too much, and you couldn't save the last set of faces, and you know it was your fault. If only you had noticed how she looked at- _oof_

"You had that look on your face again," Jade mumbles from the crook of your neck, her arms in a death grip around your shoulders, "You stop that self-pitying train of thought right now, missus!" She tisks at you light-heartedly, tapping your nose. You sigh gently, resting your head on top of hers.

You were going to break if you let these people die, you don't think you'll be able to forgive yourself if you saw the aftermath, if you saw a report of a new family murder on the 4 o'clock news. Only you know it's not just a murder, it's so much more than that. It was something you had the potential to stop, but didn't do anything about it, and let innocents die on your watch. It kills you every time to see the victims, the victims that wouldn't even be victims if you'd arrived just that little bit earlier.

And suddenly it dawned on you that you had a ugly cut on your lip and were bleeding into Jade's hair.

She either didn't notice or didn't care, so you didn't either, instead you give her a gentle squeeze to let her know you appreciate it

===>

When you first caught sight of the Egbert's you knew, you _knew_ your family and theirs was completely and utterly _fucked._

The three were almost the image of a perfect family, they were, if you ignored the gaping hole in the parents side. You knew they must have problems, arguments, but they just looked so happy, like the image of a family people strived to become. The household wore easy smiles, they were warm and welcoming and were _fucked_.

There was no way demons were going to be able to resist trying to drain the family of their blood. They were sweet, innocent, and coupled with the fact they were new, they could probably pull demons in by the busload.

Your eyes dart uneasily back and forth your street, or what you could see of it through your window on the second floor, searching for any signs that demons have already caught wind of these three, the closest demon family were the Makara's at the edge of the block, but they haven't tried anything since you cut off Kurloz's ton-now's not the time. When you found none, you shifted your gaze again to the two siblings who were currently bantering back and forth with each other happily while they carried boxes labelled varies names. The smaller boy trips over a slight overlap in the curb and stubbles forward and, much to your amusement, stumbles into the girl in front of him, creating a sort of domino effect. The girl manages to catch herself and the box at last minute, while the younger one is left to crashing into the ground. The girl -after checking for injuries, twice- laughs harmlessly as her brother spews in embarrassment. You don't even realise your smiling until you get a mental slap in the face.

Fuck, if even _you_ could feel the purity radiating off these people, what kind of alluring scent are they going to give off to _demons_.

You need to get close to them if it meant keeping them alive.

And apparently your family agrees because when you finally push away from your window and trot downstairs, your mom and sister were dressed up with perfect hair and had a lasagne in the oven.

==> Past Rose: Be present John

Present John is currently sitting doing homework at 11pm like the terrified schoolboy he is, which isn't the most entertaining thing, so maybe you should switch to another- _ooooooh_ my god your dad's home.

You quickly abandon your homework, dropping your pencil instantly and pushing yourself up from the desk, you quite literally skip to the door to investigate the several soft thumps and heavy footsteps coming from below.

Leaving your bedroom and problems behind, you pretty much stampede down the stairs -no really, you think you knocked down a couple of pictures that were hanging up on your way down- and switch back to skipping down the hall because _your dad's home fuck yes it's been almost two weeks you can't wait to tell him about that time when Roxy came over and Jane-_

You stop dead in your tracks, because that is definitely _not your dad._

The room is dark, but there is still light lingering from the summer sun that just barely trickles in from the curtain-covered windows. The soft glow illuminates the sharp build of an unknown individual (and species, that thing is _clearly _not human) and you can't help but think, while you stare dumbfounded at the unfamiliar body standing in your living room, that you've been in this position before.__

And, to be frank, you're terrified.

You stumble backwards, very gracefully tripping over your own feet, but managing to catch yourself before your head cracks open on the end table. The motion seems to alert the. . .thing to your presence, it's head whips around quickly, and you can _hear_ the painful whiplash the thing must of gotten. You gulp, staring into the intense yellow embers of the creatures eyes in anything but a romantic way, and you make a mental note not to make any sudden movements, because your inner movie nerd (it's like your own type of spidey sense, no biggie) feel like this is a 'He-can't-see-us-if-we-don't-move' situation.

And if the way the creature's slinking towards you is anything to go by, you're saying that that is utter bullshit, and this is _clearly_ not one of those situations.

And as the dark being's steps start to grow into long, desperate strides you decide, yeah, this is the part where it kills you. And honestly, you would rather not die tonight, as you literally _just_ finished that essay for World History and it would be a shame if you wasted all that time just to die the night before it was due. Shit. Fight or flight, fight or flight, fight or flight.

The figure tenses and contracts it's lower muscles (obviously about to pounce, what are you _doing_ Egbert?!) and, extending it's _rather long_ claws, it pulls it's lips back, revealing a set of _fucking terrifying_ razor-sharp fangs, and releases a snarl that instinctively sounds like it's meant to tell whoever it's aimed at that they're nothing less than _dead shit and should be booking it right now._

You know, _like you should definitely be doing right now?!_

 _"JAAAAA **AAAANE** ,"_ you sprint back down the hall, cursing rather loudly when you manage to clip a corner. You book it up the stairs, rubbing your abused side which you quickly ignore in favour of all the other bruises you're getting from stumbling into furniture. You hardly notice as you continue to scramble to your sister's room. You're not even sure she's home, but you're going to hide out in her room anyway.

From what you can hear, which is mainly multiple things breaking and ripping sounds where it's apparently clawing at the wallpaper, the creature is perusing you, fast. You can hear it's loud breathing and an occasional sound of sharp teeth clamping together, which only makes you speed up your pace. You barely have time to register the doorhandle in your hand when there's a force slamming into your back. You thump into the hard wood with a cry, swinging it open in the process but landing on the solid floorboards head first. The force knocked the wind out of you, and you're only able to struggle a little at the weight of the body that's now straddling you, which is grinning triumphantly and clawing at anything it can reach, your arms, legs, but your back mostly.

You feel as your body grows numb, your cries of pain dying down as your head floods with pain and confusion and your throat becomes dry, your breathing is shallow and the room keeps spinning. Beads of sweat run down your nose from the struggle to stay conscious, and you feel your eyes get heavy for the same reason. You barely detect the two sharp pricks of fangs when the creature bites down on your neck. All you can do is sob pitifully as your body slowly stops squirming under the weight of the whatever-it-is on top of you.

But then it's gone, and your chest heaves after whatever was conflicting it finally vanishes, and you cough and splutter, trying to get air into your lungs. You are barely conscious, and, after many attempts, find you can't as much as twitch most of the muscles in your body. You strain your eyes, and out of the blurry mess you can pick out a lone figure, standing over the now unmoving body of your attacker.

They're tense all over, their jaw is clenched but at the same time drawn back in an angry snarl. They're gripping what looks like a spear in both hands, but it's designed to look more like a trident, and you would comment on how ridiculous that was if you weren't half-dead right now. Their chest heaves as they breathe deeply, like they just ran a block or ten to get here. There's also three of them, wait no, that's just your eyes failing you. You try to focus on the figure's face, they have soft cheekbones, a button nose, short black curls, a _familiar_ set of short black curls. Your throat is killing you right now, but you eventually, after a lot more coughing and your jaw gaping open and shut like a fish, you manage to croak out a hesitant word.

"J...ane?"

And it's then, when the figure who you recognise as your sister visibly softens as she swings around to face you, dropping her weapon and to all fours just as your vision clouds over, when you finally give in to unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o look backstory everyone loves that ahaha
> 
> nh I really hope my writing improves tbh it isn't the best ahaa
> 
> aaaaaaaaand it's kinda short but what can you do ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> o and I only read through this a couple of times if there's mistakes plS forgiv e mE
> 
> (edited 15/11/15. Sorry for the (massive, I'm so sorry o MG) delay! Updates will be coming as soon as I can!)
> 
> edit 15th October 2016: it's almost been an entire year but I'm working on a rewrite and will probably post an authors note when the first chapter's done. (it look a lot better than whatever the fuck this is omg) please bare with me

**Author's Note:**

> Let's see where this goes, shall we? ;3c


End file.
